Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Sailing to the Island of Hope

Last week the administrator of Nasikawa Vision College, Korean
Methodist Missionary, Rev. Nam-Gun Cho visited Seoul to attend a conference for
Southern Seoul Methodist Churches. His visit also happened to coincide with
voting day for the Korean National Assembly. 20 million people casting their
votes in one day!

I managed to meet with Rev. Cho, during a meeting on the day after
the Voting Day public holiday, to discuss with others a proposed Fiji-based
project initiated by the Methodist Theological University. While it was
certainly wonderful to meet my Korean friend from Fiji and catch up, my real
joy lay in a plastic bag which he had brought for me – a special care package
from my family.

The package contained a pair of Bata flip-flops which, because of my
wide Fiji feet, are impossible to find and a few sulus. The sulu vakataga is
not only comfortable to wear in the humid Seoul summer that is fast
approaching. It is also part of my sharing of our Fijian culture with a largely
homogenous people – many who do not know where Fiji even is.

As an unofficial
ambassador of Fiji to the community here at the University, much like other
Fijian students in Korea and other countries around the world, I do my part to
promote our country and students are getting to know the “Fiji Pastor” or “Fiji
Man” who wears a “skirt” and takes his shoes off before going up to the
sanctuary of the Wesley Chapel to speak, sing or perform during the
International Students worship.

Perhaps it is true that you can take the man
off the island but never the island out of the man!

My package also contained two sulu vakatoga for home-wear or perhaps
dormitory-wear would be more correct. One was a gift from a fellow minister
from Rotuma, which serves constantly as a reminder of the diversity of people
in Viti kei Rotuma (and Rabi and
Kioa).

The other sulu is from the crew of the Uto Ni Yalo given to me to
wear as the chaplain of the Fiji Island Voyaging Society – although being in
Korea, I have been with them more in spirit than in the flesh.

In fact I was disappointed when I realised that I would not be able
to join them in either their first epic journey in 2010, or their even longer
adventure that they embarked on last year and are only just beginning to make
their return.

Being away from home, I am not able to follow what little media
coverage is given to this important and historic voyage. However by checking
updates on http://www.fijivoyaging.com/
and http://pacificvoyagers.org/uto-ni-yalo-update
as well as Facebook posts by Uto Ni Yalo skipper, Johnathan Smith and other
crew members, I am able to learn about their experiences and reflections on
this journey.

The Pacific Voyagers fleet of
traditional vaka may have individual aims and objects per vessel and team but together
they share a vision called the Island of Hope. For them the “Island of Hope is
a vision for the future where the Pacific is the first fossil fuel-free
continent on Earth.

The Pacific as a continent is an image adapted from the
writings of Le Clézio, where each island is only the emerging peak of a vast,
interconnected, undersea continent.”

It is a vision is driven by island
communities and based on unity, positive action, and stories of success.

The Island of Hope is also vision the
churches in the Pacific had at the dawn of this millennium, as a response to
the huge waves of cultural and economic globalisation.

Much like the Pacific
Voyagers, the Church envisioned an Island of Hope where “life is
significant, valued and celebrated. There is a celebration of life over
material wealth.

The Island of Hope is in tune with nature and by sharing and
caring, to which people want to journey in order to celebrate life in all its
fullness (Isa. 25:6).

The Island of Hope has the"mana"(power) to draw human beings together.”

The Island of Hope is sustainable,
wholesome, peaceful and all-embracing.

The concept of the Island of Hope is not
merely a dream. It is founded in reality and has been our normal life in our
islands.

The institutions and values embedded in the Island Of Hope may not
create wealth on a massive scale but they will never be responsible for
creating second class citizens, destroying the environment at will, causing
poverty, the debasement of humanity and denial of human dignity, as economic globalization
is doing.

The Island Of Hope will never entail
economic tyranny.

Spirituality, family life, traditional economy, cultural
values, mutual care and respect are components of the concept of the Island Of
Hope which prioritizes relationships, celebrates quality of life and values
human beings and creation over the production of things.

It represents life-centred
values deeply rooted in Pacific communities, which provide an orientation for a
just and sustainable economy and a life of dignity.

As I reflected on our ocean voyagers and
the Island of Hope, I wondered if we of Fiji have reached this Island yet or
whether we are still sailing towards it.

If we are still sailing is their room
for everyone on this canoe, regardless of who built it?

As we negotiate reefs, rocks and face
the waves caused by the winds of change, are we all willing to take turns in
holding the heavy steering oar and ensuring that we stay on course and not just
go in the direction we wish?

The Island of Hope is visible on the
horizon. We all want to reach our destination. Are we all joining hands to
hoist anchor and sails? Or are we paddling in different directions and going
nowhere?

And when we reach it, will we embrace it
and adapt ourselves to living in its environment or will we try to change it to
suit ourselves?